Historical Background:A second German wave arrived in the afternoon. At 16:15, 2nd Fallschirmjäger Regiment airdropped over Rethymno airfield; but like others in Crete, they all landed scattered along the coast. Elements of the 3rd Battalion quickly managed to regroup and move toward Rethymno, where they ran into fierce resistance from the Australian battalions that had taken position on the hills south of the airfield; the town's civilians and the Greek 4th and 5th Regiments just added to the invaders' difficulties. Cut-off from the rest of Crete, outgunned and surrounded, the Australians went on to hold the German invaders off for 9 days before Lieutenant Colonel Ian Campbell, commander of the 2/1st Battalion, ordered his men to surrender. Even then, many men of 2/11th Battalion, instructed by Major Sandover to either surrender or evade capture, managed to make it to the hills, and, protected by local Cretans, eventually escaped to Egypt.

The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.

Briefing:Axis Player [Germany]Take 5 Command cards.You move first.

Allied Player [Great Britain]Take 5 Command cards.

Conditions of Victory:6 Medals.

The Airfield is a Temporary Medal Objective for the Axis Forces.

If there are no British units on any of the hexes of Hill A at the start of the Axis player's turn, the Axis forces gain 1 Victory Medal. The moment a British unit reoccupies any of Hill A's hexes, the Axis player loses this medal.

The group of 3 Hill hexes of Hill B is a Temporary Majority Medal Objective. The Victory Medal for this group of objective hexes goes to the side that has units in an absolute majority of these hexes.

The six town hexes form a Turn Start Temporary Majority Medal Objective worth 1 Medal. The Victory Medal for this group of objective hexes goes to the side that has units occupying an absolute majority of these hexes at the start of its turn. If the majority is lost for any reason (movement, retreat or elimination), the medal is immediately lost.